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What To Do With Old Laptops?
An anonymous reader writes "I've recently acquired a few old P2/P3 laptops. Most either work properly but are slow, or have various problems with power supplies and/or batteries. Attempting to sell them would probably earn less than the cost of shipping, so that's out of the question. I was hoping the Slashdot crowd could give me some ideas on what to do with these old computers. As somebody who already has ~10 computers lying around the house there is certainly no need for an additional computer to 'experiment' with, so I was hoping for some more creative suggestions."
Fix em up if you can and give em to a kids. I'm sure you could get at least a couple goin out of the pile, no?
I've put win2k on them and they seem to be fine for this purpose.
I'm not anti-social, I'm anti-idiot.
Create a virtual virus zoo.
the real question you're asking is Will it blend?
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Donate to a charity - there are many developing 3rd world countries that I am sure would love to get their hands on something like that.
...To try to get Vista running on one of them.
Then again setting yourself on fire would probably be a much more pleasant experience.
Saying "I'll probably get modded down for this" in a post is the best way to get it modded up.
I use old laptops for things like serving up web pages, running an FTP site, portable web-cam host, print server, file server, repeater, router or whatever other services where a power efficient, portable computer can be used. If you have it set up to run a single service or two, then performance is not going to be that big of an issue.
For a web server, for example. I install a low-overhead Linux distro with Apache, ssh and maybe vnc and copy my www directory to it. BAM! Web server! It uses less power than any of my PC's, and it allows me to reboot my "real" machine without taking the web page down.
There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
Send them to me. I'll find a use for them. Hell, I'll pay your shipping.
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here, do this: http://www.computerswithcauses.org/
There are many folks that would really benefit from a computer with an productivity suite and Internet capabilities. Install linux and open office then give away on freecycle.org. Caveat that there is no support available.
PULL!
"Give someone a program, frustrate them for a day... Teach someone to program, frustrate them for a lifetime."
Thin clients. Install a wifi card and mount one to the wall or cabinets in your kitchen. No battery necessary. Install LTSP or similar on a server and bammo! Instant kitchen terminal.
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i would take old laptops, install Linux on it with a bittorrent client, load it with lots of mp3 & mpeg files that make the MPAA & RIAA really angry and find a good wifi hotspot and plug the AC adapter to a spare outlet and abandon it, (be sure to wipe any fingerprints off beforehand)...
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
1.siphon 2.neighbors car 3.bonfire
I just misrepresent them on e-bay and pawn them off on some unsuspecting sucker :)
You could meet the needs of a small library by throwing a wireless card into each of them, then pick up one new desktop machine and set the laptops up as thin clients.
Find some small computer shop and get them to donate the desktop machine in exchange for a plaque on the wall at the library (cheap advertising and tax deductible donation for them), set it up over a weekend, and claim the cost of the laptops and your time as a charitable donation when you do your own taxes.
Or, of course, you could make a bunch of ugly digital picture frames that consume way too much electricity.
-1 Uncomfortable Truth
Bathtime surfing!!
and when one goes splash, just get out another.
What if Tetris was invented by Nazis?
But why not build an image wall placing them side by side and play something using X-Windows.
Just install Linux with X11 on each and you have a multi-screen solution!
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
KDE (and other window managers) makes inverting the screen trivial. mount the laptop upside down under the cabinet like one of those Bose CD players. The screen flips down like in a minivan DVD player.
Add a wireless keyboard and (as you said) bammo!
I'd rather have someone respond than be modded up.
I find that used laptops sell for extremely high prices, and that anybody who buys one is an idiot. You can go to walmart and get the $500 weekly special, and it will blow most used laptops out of the water, and will usually cost less. And the battery will be new. Most used laptops have a battery that's halfway to death. People assume that it must be cheaper, because it's used, but if you compare prices, you can get a pretty good laptop for really cheap. I bought an Acer 3680 for $500. Installed Mandriva. And it works great.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
I know you were trying to be funny, but it's quite sad that these things are taken for granted and put to waste. Please visit the following link for what I think to be the best use of your laptops: http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/index.php
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Generally, in the US you cannot claim time as a charitable contribution.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p526.pdf
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law - Aleister Crowley
I'm glad someone thought that the picture frame idea was somewhat lacking.
Unfortunately (or fortunately) we've gotten to the point where technology, even free, is completely obsolete in 10-15 years. In a few years the cost of maintaining those systems as well as the extra electricity will probably make them more costly than a replacement. Still, if it's a few more good years, that's not bad.
What should be focused on more is safe disposal of computer equipment. We are very fast approaching the point of PC saturation. Almost everyone has a PC that wants one (in industrialized nations) and new models are very cheap. Very few people want the hassle of a PC after it's been handed down twice. (assume 5-7 years old.) Past that it's almost useless; the price, performance, size and features almost always win out for "buy new". You're going to likely be looking at 40+ million old PC/laptops disposed each year in the US alone, excluding businesses. (5 year lifespan, 2 in 3 people with a computer.)
I am not an expert. If I am misled in something, please correct me.
Even better, install Puppy Linux and a countdown screensaver, boot it up in an airport or other public place, then walk away.
Not only will you get the laptop demolished for free, you might even make it to the real news!
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
How about turning them into a Folding @ Home farm?
My bad. I googled it and clicked the wrong link. I can't find the exact site, but techsoup has a list of people to donate it to: http://www.techsoup.org/resources/index.cfm?action=resource.view_summary&resourcelist_id=144&style=recycle&set=products
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